Maeth : " Shrouded Mountain"

I went into this thinking these guys were a doom band. This might have colored my first impression of this band was that they had a Jesu like thing going on with the layered vocals. So I was a little caught off guard by the math metal that would eventually dominate this song. The vocals shift into more of a death metal growl. When you get into the second song the flute solo that has been wandering over everything begins to annoy me, which is unfortunate as the chords under neath it take on a more hypnotic and exotic blend. They rifss build into some more angular, but with solid groove wedged into the craziness that reminds me at this point more of Cynic.

The first of the two songs that clock in at over ten minutes is called "Shrouded". This one only breaks the ten minute mark by sixteen seconds. This is time that was wasted in the first two minutes for them to actually get into the real song and not just play around like they are tuning their instruments. Even when the effects heavy guitars do swell up, they still manage to keep wasting time. When it begins to seem like a reall song is about to take form it's some kind of folk influence post-rock. It does build in intensity, but still feels like more of an interlude.

"Naga" could be the intro to a Dream Theater song. Though no Journey like vocals come in and they do not bust into something that is more of a power ballad. In the end it's about as eventful as most instrumentals that are not vehicles for guitar solos. The vocals return for the last and longest song of the album. The come back as a low multi-tracked growl. The chug is slow and powerful, but more sludge than doom. The vocals stay low in the mix as this song eventually swells into something that sounds more like a post-rock version of Tool. These guys are talented , I think the first couple of songs key into where their sound should go, I'll give this a 6.5.

Same Sex Dictator : " Open the Coffin"

This drum & bass duo features Eye of Nix drummer Justin Straw, whose prowess is undeniable in this venture. They are like Eye of Nix in the sense they do not fit neatly into a single sub-genre of metal. Sludge and grind core are two of the more prominent components in the opener. They relish in the ugliness and abrasive tendencies they snarl out of sometimes angular passages with. Even after the bass lead in to " Obviously Dead" the fact this is just bass,drums  and synth is often obscured by the heaviness. The more metallic rumble this song finds flirts with death metal, though they never strike me as being blatantly influenced by anyone band. They even find themselves caught up for a second in blast beats before going into something more hard core.

There is a little more atmosphere to "God is Not Here". It is shattered by the mammoth lumber of the fuzzed out bass. The vocals harshly screamed and bellowed with varied amount of mucous raked from their throats. They go into an angry call and response at one point on this song.  They grow into a more hammering aggression with  " Becoming Aurelius". More elements of noise become apparent with the rough around the edges riffage. They do not pick the predictable way to deliver dynamics as the heavy chaos of "Run Into Knives" is bookended by two different approaches to droning ambiance.

There is a slight nod to post- punk with the beat to "Sarcoidosis". It proceeds to hit the winding math rock groove with a more punk aggression than their explosive tendencies have previously hinted at on this album. They ease back into more sonic punches on "A Murder of Crow(d)s " . The vocals return to call and response with a crusty shout answering to the more death metal vocal. They burst out of the dark brooding first minute of "A Crippled House" with a spasm of hard core punk. The drumming beats this into a more metal form.

Closing out the album with "Betrayal Was A Mutual Term" that gets a little darker in almost a Neurosis fashion before the bass bounces the song into motion. The stomp is abandoned for a more double bass propelled bridge into punk rock and back again. This album is solid yet unpredictable. The fact the mood is pretty sardonic throughout keeps me more engaged in some of their punk rock moments than I would other be if they had taken the bratty straight ahead approach to the sharp turns into punk. If you don't like you metal cut and dry with crusty doses of hard punk then this album is for you.I'll give it an 8.5 for now and see how it grows on me.